Indians set AL record with 21st straight win

For a few fleeting minutes Wednesday, the Indians were in relative trouble. The Tigers pushed across a run in the top of the first, and with that the Indians for just the second game of this streak failed to score the first run. It also put them in danger of trailing for just the fifth inning during said streak. Then, however, Buck Farmer's faltering command led up to this Jay Bruce three-run shot, which was held up on review …

Per win expectancy, that gave the Indians a 70.5 percent chance of winning their 21st straight game. Recent history, of course, makes that figure feel like an undersell. The Tigers made things interesting in the middle innings, but the Cleveland bullpen in relief of Mike Clevinger worked 3 1/3 scoreless, and Roberto Perez added some insurance with a solo homer in the seventh. Cleveland went on to prevail by a score of 5-3, as you see above.

So that's 21 in a row. That now stands alone as the AL record, and it also ties the mark of the 1935 Cubs. To hear most tell it, that's the all-time record, but it's not quite that simple. John McGraw's 1916 Giants won 26 in a row, but that mark is somewhat compromised by a tie that was mixed in. Click here to read more about this somewhat complicated all-time record.

The Dodgers are going to the postseason for the fifth consecutive season, and, despite their recent slump, clinching a playoff spot was merely a formality given the lead they'd built earlier in the year. They'll clinch the NL West title any day now.

McCutchen hits 200th home run

I'm not sure if I'm surprised Andrew McCutchen already has 200 career home runs or only 200 career home runs. Is that weird? That seems weird. Anyway, McCutchen hit his 200th career homer Wednesday night, a solo blast against Brewers righty Chase Anderson. Here's the milestone homer:

Which team has given up the most home runs to McCutchen? The Brewers, of course. Wednesday night was McCutchen's 32nd career homer against the Brew Crew. He's hit 28 against the Reds, 22 against the Cubs, and 13 against the Cardinals. Among non-NL Central teams, the Nationals have allowed the most homers to McCutchen. He was 14 against Washington. Cutch has 13 homers in 139 games against the Cardinals and 14 in 50 games against the Nats. Huh.

Goldschmidt picks up 1,000th career hit

There was another milestone base hit Wednesday night in addition to McCutchen's 200th homer. D-Backs franchise player Paul Goldschmidt ripped a double to center field in the third inning for his 1,000th career hit. Here's the video:

The 17 home runs leads baseball since Hoskins made his debut on August 10. Giancarlo Stanton and J.D. Martinez are tied for second with 16 apiece.

Thames hits his 30th home run

Remember how ridiculous Eric Thames was in April? He hit .345/.466/.810 in the season's first month and crushed 11 home runs in his first 20 games. Thames cooled down considerably after that, so much so that he went into Wednesday's game hitting .203/.316/.426 in his previous 361 plate appearances.

Thames crushed his 30th home run of 2017 against the Pirates, and I'm guessing not many folks thought he'd have to wait until Sept. 13 to do it given his hot start. Here's the video:

Thames is still hitting a solid .239/.350/.513 (121 OPS+) on the season. He's just not the Barry Bonds clone he appeared to be in April.

Glasnow struggles in return to MLB

By all accounts, Pirates righty Tyler Glasnow is one of the promising pitching prospects in baseball. He opened the season in Pittsburgh's rotation, but he struggled so mightily that he had to be sent to Triple-A in June. Glasnow went 2-6 with a 7.45 ERA in 12 starts and 54 1/3 innings before being sent down.

In the minors Glasnow had more success, throwing 93 1/3 innings with a 1.93 ERA and a 140/32 K/BB. He returned to the big leagues Wednesday night and, well, it did not go well. Here's his pitching line against the Brewers:

Rosario entered the night hitting .290/.327/.498 (a 116 OPS+) with 22 home runs. He's been one of the Twins' more productive batters on the season, and has been particularly effective since the All-Star Break. Prior to Wednesday's game, Rosario's second-half OPS (.881) was nearly 100 points higher than his first-half OPS (.784).

The Twins' victory means they remained two games up on the Angels in the hunt for the second wild card in the AL.

Green is looking like an October weapon for Yanks

Given all the notable names in the Yankee bullpen, it's perhaps easy to overlook Chad Green. Here's what Green did on Wednesday in the nip-and-tuck win over the Rays: 1 1/3 innings, no hits, no runs, three strikeouts, no walks. After that outing, here are his numbers for the year:

Framed another way, Green's struck out 42.1 percent of the batters he's faced this season. That's dominance. Also, he's amassed those 64 1/3 innings despite not being recalled until May 9. That's because he's recorded more than three outs in 29 of his 35 outings. In 17 of those outings, he's gone at least two innings. Thrice he's pitched three or more innings in a game. As well, manager Joe Girardi hasn't hesitated to use Green in high-leverage spots despite this being just his second big-league season.

That dominance at the run-prevention and peripheral levels plus his ability to work multiple innings plus his manager's trust may all add up to Green's playing a big role in October -- assuming, of course, the Yankees maintain their grip on playoff position. As we saw last postseason, the "relief ace" is back, at least in the playoff environment, and Green looks like he has all the ingredients to be one.

Olson goes deep again

Maybe moreso than at any other point in MLB history, young sluggers are coming up and hitting a boatload of home runs these days. Hoskins is all the rage right now. Last year we saw Gary Sanchez do it, and earlier this year it was Aaron Judge. Don't forget about Matt Olson though. The A's first baseman went deep again Wednesday night:

That is home run No. 18 for Olson in only 49 games. He's hit seven home runs in his last 10 games and 10 home runs in his last 15 games. The 23-year-old took over at first base after Yonder Alonso was traded to the Mariners, and he's rewarded the team with a .270/.355/.618 batting line so far this year.

Dayn Perry has been a baseball writer for CBS Sports since early 2012. Prior to that, he wrote for FOXSports.com and ESPN.com. He's the author of three books, the most recent being Reggie Jackson: The...
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